1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to the field of poultry house heaters and, more particularly, to an air-gas mixture burning radiant heater assembly for a poultry house heater that incorporates a gas burner manufactured from stamped metal.
2. Background of the Invention.
For many years the poultry industry has recognized the importance of providing growing birds with the ability to select the most comfortable temperature at any given moment. Radiant heating systems are used to create and control the microclimates that give birds this ability. Gas heating systems for poultry houses typically include a plurality of gas burner assemblies located throughout the poultry house.
Radiant gas burner assemblies typically used today are radiant screen-type burners that are spaced apart and suspended above a flock of growing birds within a structure such as a poultry house. Previously, radiant screen-type burner assemblies have utilized a cast iron multiport burner head that directs a burner flame to contact a frusto-conical screen located around the burner head. A reflector is positioned above the multiport burner head and above the frusto-conical screen which downwardly emits the heat in the form of infrared radiation toward the growing birds. Reflectors are typically constructed of aluminum. By placing a plurality of individual burner assemblies throughout the poultry house, the resultant environment is conducive to the growth of the birds.
A problem associated with the brooding systems of the poultry industry is that of airborne contaminants such as dust from the poultry house floor, dry feed, feathers and excrement from the chicks. These contaminants may become airborne with movement of the chicks, resulting in a dusty environment in the brooding house. The airborne contaminants cause prior art cast iron burners to suffer performance problems due to rough interior surfaces and irregular hole sizes that result from the casting process. Undersized ports, tiny crevices and irregular interior surface features of the burners may result in a build-up of dust and other contaminants that can negatively affect the heating performance of the burners and the emissions generated by the burners.
Attempts have been made to overcome these disadvantages of cast iron burners. Such attempts include resizing the ports by drilling and/or reaming the ports. Additionally, dust filter cans have been added. A disadvantage with such filter cans is that they require periodic cleaning. The additional machining operations as well as the addition of the dust filter cans and the continued maintenance of these systems add significantly to the cost of raising birds.
Dust collection and contamination also cause problems in the venturi tubes that supply fuel to the burners. Difficulties are encountered with horizontally installed venturi tubes and with vertically oriented orifice fittings that possess substantially large horizontal surfaces. Since the horizontal surface of an orifice fitting provides a settling station for airborne contaminants, such contaminants have a tendency to adversely affect the operation of the venturi tube and the orifice fitting. Performance difficulties in the venturi tube and orifice fitting in turn adversely affect the performance of the burner.
Accordingly, the continued development of radiant gas heaters for poultry house heating systems is directed to a lower cost burner that overcomes the problems associated with prior gas burner assemblies for poultry houses.